Feeler mechanism for looms



Feb. 18, 1930. R J. w. SIMPSON FEELER MECH ANISM FOR LOOMS Filed May 14, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l A TTORNE'Y ,Feb. 18, 1930. J. w. SIMPSON FEELER MECHANISM FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed May 14, 1929 WW i I A TTO/? NE? //V VENTOR.

the call of a pull spring, as will presently apear.

The feeler 11 is formed of wire, preferably of circular cross-section, and the rear end portion of the feeler is cut on a bevel or incline through the entire body of the feeler, as indicated by the line ab, Fig. 2, the result being that the filling feeler end of the feeler is provided with a'single tooth which may enter between the coils of filling on eaiihdetecting beat Without injurious effect thereto.

The feeler in the present invention extends substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shuttle and consequently means are employed to move the feeler into its rearward feeling position and atthe same time act laterally to return the feeler from its side slipped position in case filling has I been detected as substantially exhausted.

Between the front and rear ends of the feeler the latter is provided with a projection which may be conveniently formed by bending thewire of the feeler intoa lateral arm 14 for a purpose which will presently appear,

' and connected to the lateral arm or projectheslot to its straight feeling position.

Pivot-ally mounted at 18 at the rear of the feeler stand is a feeler displacer 19 having a bulge 20 substantially central of the displacer, and from the bulge 20 the front arm 21 j of the feeler displacer inclines frontwardly away from the'feeler. The terminal portion of the arm 21 has a stop 22 which is normally held'in contact with a cooperating stop 23 on thefeeler stand by a spring 24, one end of which is connected to the-feeler'displacer fat 25 and the other to the feeler stand at 26,

the result being that the feeler displacer will normally take position as indicated in'Fig. 1. In the present instance of the invention, the

feeler displacer has an arm 27 extending slightly frontward of its pivotal mounting 18, and, as shown, the rear end of the spring 15 is connected to the arm 27,'so that should the feeler displacer be moved laterally ,by the I feeler projection 14- as the feeler is'moved The feeler stand 6 which as hereinbefore' to frontwardly, the arm 27 will swing laterally to move the rear end of the spring in a direction increasing the lateral pull stress of the springupon the feeler.

stated is preferably formed of sheet metal, has an eye 28 through which'looselyextends a transmitter 29,- the end 30 of which 'bears upon the side of the feeler, the construction being such that should the feelerpa rtakeof itsside'slipping movement the transmitter 29 in its operative position. 7

will be moved to initiatereplenishment of filling through a usual train of mechanism now well understood.

When the feeler is in its rearward feeling position, the projection or bend 14 of the feeler will-be rearwardof the bulge 20 of the feeler displacer 19, so" that on frontward movement of the lay the single filling engaging tooth of the feeler will sink into the fille ing before the projection or bend 14 of the feeler contacts with the feeler displacer, thereby insuring that the feeler be held by the filling in the shuttle provided a working supply is.present.- As the feeler is moved front-wardly, the projection or bend14 of the feeler will engage the bulge '20 of the feeler displacer and consequently impart to the feeler a tendency to side slip. Should a working supplyof filling be present in theshuttle i on a detecting beat, the projection or bend 14 of the feeler will be moved frontwardlyi past or beyondthe bulge 20 and engage'the frontwardly inclined arm 21 of the displacer, thereby relieving the feeler from its full side p 1 slipping tendency, which is at a maximum when the projection or bend 14 is at thelpeak of the bulge 20.

The release of the maximum side stress upon the feeler under the conditions above noted has the result of relieving the filling from injurious side stress by the single tooth of the feeler.

Should, however, the filling be substan- I tially exhausted on a detecting beat, as indicated in'Fig'. 3, the feeler Will not be moved frontwardly as far as when a working supply of filling is present in the shuttle, and

the projection or bend 14 will rest substantially upon the peak of the feeler displacer, thereby lmparting the maximum tendency of the feeler to side slip, and since the spring.

15 is given a more lateral direction of pull upon the feeler as it side slips, such spring 15 is of less pulling strength than the spring 24 which yieldingly holds the feeler displacer From the constructiondescribed it will be apparent .that the single bevelled'tooth of I the feelerwhen engaged with a working supply of filling on a detecting beat, as indi-r cated in Fig. 2, will be relieved of .its maximum side stress upon the filling as the feeler moves frontwardly" and carries the projection orbend 14 frontward of the bulge 20 of the feeler displacer, and suchrelease of the side slipping tendency of the feelervwill relieve thefilling of anyinjurious effect by the single tooth'ofthe feeler; ,7 V e Shouldthe filling besubstantially exhausted on detecting beat, however,the feeler willnot be moved frontwardly sufiiciently far.

to carry. the projection or .bend 14 .frontward of the bulge 20 of the feeler displacer and the "latter will exert its maximum side slipping tendency against the feeler to effect lateral movement ofthe transmitter 29 and initiation of filling replenishment.

The lay 31 which is shown broken away is of usual character and has the shuttle box 32 in which the shuttle 33 rests when it is positioned in the boX at the detecting side of the loom. The front wall 34 of the shut- 'tle is provided with the usual opening 35 to permit entrance of the feeler to engage the i 1 filling 36 on the fillingcarrier 37. It is un- 'derstood, of course, that the front wall of the shuttle box is likewise provided with an opening to permit the feeler to enter and detect the condition of the filling.

What is claimed is: p

1. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping feeler mounted on the feeler stand and proa predetermined amount.

2. Ina feeler mechanism for looms, the

combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping teeler mounted onthe feeler stand and having a projection between its ends, a feeler displacer comprisingan arm pivotally mounted at the rear of the feelers stand and inclined frontwardly towards the teeler to form abulge and impart to the 'feeler a side slipping tendency as the feeler is moved ,frontwardly, and an arm extending frontwardly from the bulge away from the feeler to modify the tendency of the feeler to side slipping movement when the feeler'has been I I movedfrontwardly a predetermined amount and a spring for yieldingly'holding the feeler displacer in an operative position.

3; In a'iieeler mechanism for looms, the

I combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping feeler mounted on the feeler stand and having a projection, a feeler displacer pivotally mounted at the rear of the feeler stand and having a bulge frontward of the feeler projectionwhen the feeler is in rearward feeling position and a release portion frontward of the bulge to relieve the feeler from the full tendency to side slip when the feeler projection is moved frontwardly past a the bulge, and a spring connected to the feeler displacer to maintain it yieldingly in operative position.

I l. I a I combination of a feeler stand, a SldG shpping 4. In a feeler' mechanism for looms, the

T "feeler mounted'on the feeler stand and having a projection, a feeler displacer havinga bulge for engagement by theprojection to effect side slipping movement of the feeler when the filling is substantially exhausted and apart frontward of the bulge to relieve the feeler of side stress when a working supply of filling is in the shuttle on a detecting beat and the teeler projection is moved frontwardly past the bulge to thereby avoid injury to the filling.

Y 5. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping wire feeler' having a single filling teeler tooth and a bend between its ends forming a projection, a yielding pivotally mounted feeler displacer having a bulge for engagement by the projection to exert a lateral stress upon the feeler as it is moved frontwardly and a stress relieving part frontward of the bulge to relieve the lateral stress upon the feeler when the feeler projection is moved tront- I wardl'y past the bulge by a working supply of filling in the shuttle on a detecting beat to prevent injurious e'fi ect upon the filling by the single tooth otthe wire feeler.

6. In 'a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping wire feeler mounted on the feeler stand and having its rear end cut to form a single filling feeler tooth, and means acting upon the feeler tending t0v cause side slipping movement thereof until the feeler is moved it'ront'- wardly a predetermined distance on a detecting beat and thereupon relieving the feeler from side slipping tendency to prevent displacement of the filling by the feeler when a working supply of filling is present in the shuttle on a detecting beat.

7. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping wire feeler mounted on the feeler stand and having its rear end cut transverselythrough the wire feeler on an incline to form a single filling feeler tooth, and means exerting side stress upon the feeler until it is moved frontwardly a predetermined amount and thereupon relieving the side stress upon the feeler to prevent displacement of the filling by the feeler on a detecting beat when a working supply of filling is in the shuttle.

8. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of the feeler stand, a side slipping feeler mounted on the feeler stand and having a projection, a pull spring connected to the feeler and at a point laterally of the wfeele'r at the rear of the feeler stand to act in a rearwardly inclined direction upon a feeler, a feeler displacer pivotally mounted at the rear of the feeler stand and having a feeler, and a spring of greater strength than the pull spring to maintain the feeler displacer in normal operative position against the lateral stress of the pull spring as the feeler side slips. 7

9. In a feeler mechanism for looms,;the combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping f feeler mounted on the feeler stand to extend rearwardly therefrom at right angles to the lay movement and constituted as a light single wire blade having a filling feeler tooth rigid with the :teeler, bearings onthe feeler stand through which the Wire feeler has movement towards and from the front of the loom, and a feeler displacer acting yieldingly upon the feeler to impart side slipping movement thereto until the feeler is moved frontward a predetermined amount on a detecting beat and thereupon freeing the feel er from side stress to prevent displacement of the filling by the feeler.

10. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the

I combination of a feeler stand, a feeler mounted upon the feeler stand for movement towards and from the front of the loom and v in a direction longitudinally of the shuttle,

and a feeler displacer which acts yieldingly upon the feeler tending to move it longitudinally of the shuttle until the feeler has been moved frontwardly a predetermined amount on a detecting beat and thereupon relieving the side stress upon the feeler to prevent displacement of the filling by the feeler as it completes its further frontward movement.

In testimonywhereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

7 JESSE W- SIMPSON; 

